Final Girl

A college aged girl sits on the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket, watching the passing police, park rangers and paramedics run around. Flashlights bob around in the trees, hunting the forest for a monster.

The girl has a deep cut in her cheek and her head, her hairs a mess, theres blood and tears in her clothes, and she’s missing an earring. She looks like she’s just survived hell.

Which isn’t entirely wrong.

Jenni had talked to a few officers, who had asked her questions. She hadn’t said much. She’d clammed up, and they’d written it off as fear. Anyone would be traumatized after what had happened to her.

They’d never find out what she actually knew. And Jennifer Todd knew far more about what would eventually be called the Boulders Gate Massacre than anyone would suspect.
----
Jenni was only half watching the scurrying men and women. She had other things on her mind.
Namely, the low, growling voice in the back of her head, complaining constantly.

We should be going home. It hissed, pushing irritably against her thoughts.

She ignored it, keeping silent as another police officer walked up. This one was a woman, her face already wearing that sympathetic mask. Jenni braced herself.

“Jenni? Jenni Todd?” The officer asked. “I’m Officer Slater.”

Jenni glared at her, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself. In the back of her skull, something curls irritably and contemplates crushing the older woman’s smiling face into pulp. Images of blood and popped eyeballs flash behind her eyes like intrusive thoughts, but they don’t belong to her.

Jenni soothes it silently, keeping up the mask of a traumatized young girl.

She says nothing, just nods at Slater and wonders which of the same old questions she’ll have to hear.

“I understand you’ve been through a lot, Jenni” the officer said, “But I need to know, is there anything else you remember about who or what did this to you?”

Jenni shook her head. “I told that other cop everything I know already.” She said softly.
“I was hoping there was something you may have missed.” Said Slater.

Jenni shook her head again.

Please. One, one bite Jen. Please. It curls around her brain, feeds her a scenario. She can feel it’s pressure on the back of her neck, waiting and watching and hoping.

Quiet. You’re making it hard to focus. She warned it.

It muttered darkly, like a petulant child.

Officer Slater tries a little harder, and Jenni continues to not answer. She feigns ignorance. Wonders vaguely if she’ll be a suspect. Probably. Definitely a prime witness, being the only survivor. She bristles, and she feels a trickle of annoyance from the presence.

They hurt you, Jen. It told her. And they screamed so nicely.

Well, that may the last fun you have in a while. At least until we can move again. Jenni snapped. She was already thinking of how much this was gonna complicate shit. We’re on their watch list now.

That nine-one-one call had fucked everything up.

He chuckles a bit, watching through their eyes as the cop goes away at last, leaving her in her little trauma blanket with Him nuzzled up inside her brain and shadow.

She watches body bags get moved around, not yet occupied.

Worlds grisliest jigsaw. He giggled. And with missing parts to boot.

Jenni sighed and hoped she’d be out of here soon. She hates being around people when He is restless and hiding.
——
Ryan Ledger stands and watches the girl named Jenni from afar, hidden in the hustle and bustle of the massacre clean up.

Ryan’s a tall, balding man who doesn’t wear a uniform or badge. He hasn’t been a part of any official agency for years, but rumours and hearsay had reached him in his comfy home miles away, and he’d come because he’d recognized a pattern from a case years and years ago. In a different place. He’d come on a hunch, not expecting the actual crime to occur while he’d been in town.

People had written it off as a wild animal attack. Or the act of some twisted group. Brutal, unbelievable acts of carnage.

The ex-cop knew better. He’d seen the scene, and many others like it. And as he’d dug deeper and deeper, he began to notice familiar things; the M.O was same but there was no real pattern in victims. All that would be left was fingernails and teeth, and lots of lots of blood of whoever or whatever the victims had been. And a name, showing at various schools victims had been related to. Either as students or family of students or teachers.

Jennifer Todd.

At first, it had been a coincidence. But now, here she was, in the flesh, fresh out of one of those horror scenes.

Now, he just needed to prove his suspicions.
——
She’s monitored at the hospital, though it’s mostly a thinly veiled way to keep an eye on the massacre survivor.

Jenni’s Just grateful when He slips out of her mind to manifest elsewhere, the pressure of his thoughts and emotions leaving her more clear headed. She hated when the only place he could hide was inside her skull and soul. She missed his presence though too. It was fussy and hungry and loud but it was familiar and safe. At least to her.

The nurses informed her a few hours later her father was here.

Abigor always looked a little different when he remanifested. It was like his human skin was an inconsistently described character, information forgotten and thoughtlessly changed. Last time, Abigor had had a scar on his nose, this time he had a clear face and a mole on his left hand. Same charming smile as he walked in and hugged her, acting terrified and worried, apologizing for taking so long to get to his baby girls side.

She acts appropriately scared and relieved, sobbing into his shoulder.

The tall, scruffy, unrepentantly clever creature who was her only family brought her her favourite hoodie and fuzzy socks, smiling at the nurses and sitting nearby to watch TV while Jenni slept.

“You’re holding up well.” He commented, while she ate Jell-o the colour of radiation.

“I always have.” Said Jenni.

“True. Unusual girl.” He smiled, teeth white and a bit sharper than average.

“Abigor, I won’t be able to help for a while.” Jenni said.

“I know.” He said. “I ate well, cub. Don’t worry about me. We just need to get you home.”

He rested a hand on her knee, comfortingly. Honestly, she found him more familiar and comforting sometimes when he was a voice in the back of her head, or extra weight in her shadow. Abigor as a human, as a man, was more wrong somehow.

“Do you think I’m a suspect?” She asked.
“Probably. Just keep your head down and do your thing, cub. When you come home I’ll order pizza for you.”

“You’re the best, Abi.” Jenni sighed.

The demon smiled brilliantly. “I know. Now get some rest, cub. You’re only human, after all.”
——
Abigor was old. Ancient. He was the kind of demon who hadn’t even seen heaven, not one of the fallen legion behind the Christian Churches Lucifer.

Oh, people knew of him. Arcanists and those who dealt with the shadows and the demonic knew his name. His nature and purpose.

What they’d never know, is how Abigor had been keeping himself busy for the past couple of decades.
——
In 1997, a cult in the Rocky Mountains made a grave error. Like many cults do.

They didn’t really stand out, as far as cults went. They got high, and fucked, and had a charismatic leader who said pretty words to lost and lonely kids. He recruited in bus stations and parks, Manson like, and isolated his followers in the wild. Far away from civilization and common sense.

This guy, who’s name no one can be bothered to remember, had a book. He’d stolen it years ago, kept it hidden and read it. He was smart, well educated. It was through his university that he’d found the book, during a project on ancient civilizations. It was old, bound in human skin and the pages were probably vellum. It was one of those things that if you a lot of horror movies, you’d know not to fuck with it.

This fool did.

The cultists summoned something quite beyond their understanding. The average human cannot comprehend the horror of a demonic entity; no movie or story can prepare you for it. Words fail in describing the understanding of these creatures, the images from old grimiores simplified interpretations of the truth.

The ritual was sloppy, and they were high as kites when they performed it. They kidnapped some poor tourist and used his blood and flesh to summon a Hellspawn, excited to meet the other worldly horror that would emerge in the merijauna and alcohol scented room.

The demon they summoned was Abigor. Clever, hungry, cunning, ancient Abigor, a name in a book these humans couldn’t fully understand. Leader of Legions, a Devourer of Men, an Upper Demon, not some imp or barghest.

When he emerged, the tourist wasn’t enough to sate his hunger. So, he turned on his summoners next.

A binding circle had been drawn, sloppily and without much care. He broke it with ease and went hunting like a weasel in a henhouse.

The screams were almost as sweet as their flesh, the monstrous entity playing happily with the panicking mortals before tearing them open like Christmas Poppers.

He was almost done with his slaughter when he saw the tiny figure in the corner of the room.
The cultists had a child in their midst.

Abigor, who most certainly didn’t appear as anything close to human and was probably eating the child’s parent, froze and met her gaze.
To this day, he never could figure out what possessed him in that moment. Any excuses or explanations he’d come up with over the years made no sense.

She couldn’t have been much older than two, dirty and malnourished in clothes that didn’t fit.
She stared fearlessly at the massive, blood covered creature, all spiny and sharp with rows of teeth and eyes like hellpits.

Any normal human of any age would cry, scream, piss themselves. They’d reek of the kind of terror you only feel when confronted by the unknowable.

This one just stared at the creature and the portal and the carnage in the ugly, ill kept house that the cult had been staying in. She looked tired,almost dead on her feet.

Abigor swallowed the arm in his mouth, licking away gore from his lips and crawling closer to the very small girl. His nostrils flared and his multiple sets of eyes blinked as he took in the tiny form before him. The kid didn’t say anything, didn’t flinch, didn’t move. She was fearless.

Suddenly, his curiosity was more important than his hunger. Slowly, the horrific creature wrapped itself in a form less likely to hurt this tiny thing. He crouched down, in a human-ish form, and cocked his head curiously.

“Hello.” He rumbled, modifying his voice from the resonating, grating rasp of the Burnt, Unknowable Beings of the Deep Pits.

The kid said nothing, though she did have the balls to poke him in the face with a bony finger.
She seemed surprised that he was real, eyes widening suddenly.

“I’m real, if that’s what you’re wondering, cub.” He chuckled. “You’re an odd little thing, aren’t you?”

She pointed wordlessly behind him, at the butcher pile of former humans on the floor, furniture and walls. Then she poked his face again, this time the bloodstained area around his mouth.

“Hungry.” She said at last.

“Hungry?” He parroted. “You’re hungry?”
She nodded.

After watching him eat intestines like spaghetti. Unbelievable.

And that’s how Abigor, an actual demon, ended up sorting through a cultists kitchen to feed a tiny malnourished child after probably eating her parents.

Life is strange.

Now, Abigor, who is old, older than the earth itself, has never cooked in his long, long life. He preferred his food raw and screaming. So he tried to find what he hoped was child appropriate foods. He had a very vague idea of what a child was; hell was full of former children, many of whom had left children behind. For curiosity's sake, he told himself as he went through the cupboards. In the end, crackers, jerky, and dry cereal were being scarfed down by a very small girl while Abigor watched her curiously.

After a bit, he went for a walk around the house, taking in the squalor and filth. He found where the little one must have been sleeping, a dirty blanket nest with a ragged doll in it hidden in a closet.

He went back to the kitchen, where the kid was still munching away on stale saltines.
He sat down, thinking.

“You’re an odd thing, human. Anyone else who’s seen what you had would have been terrified. And wouldn’t be eating whatever omnivorous dreck that is.” He gestured a clawed hand at the cereal.

The child continued, unbothered, until she finally finished eating, hopped off her chair and went over to him. She grabbed his clawed hand, and pulled on him.

He let her lead him to the closet, that filthy closet, and she settled into that nest. She gestured at a loose blanket, and it took him a moment to realize that she wanted him to pull it over her.

What in the Circles was wrong with this kid?
He tucked her in, and she snuggled down to go to sleep.

Abigor watched her for a moment. Watched her drift off. And something seemed to settle in his mind.

He went back to the ritual and finished consuming his feast, gorging like he hadn’t gorged on centuries until he felt bloated and content. He found the Book near an older man with a look of horror permanently etched into his face, and picked it up. He noted the old arcane symbols and chuckled before he began to eat presumably the leader as well.

He licked up the blood, he savoured their hearts. And then he went to the closet, and gently lifted a very tired looking little girl.

She nuzzled closer to him, not even waking up. His skin was rough in this half way form, like his claws were sharp, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Book in one hand, cub in another, Abigor left that house behind and wondered if he was getting soft in his old age.
——
The demon was a bit behind on human civilization. He had to adapt quickly, with his new ward.

The identity he found for his cub was Jennifer Marie Todd. He bought it for her, a dead person's identity that he bestowed on her for when they actually needed the system. Though bought was a loose term. He made a deal, and it had ended in someone getting eaten, so it was really more to the demons benefit than the black market dealer.

Through this same contract, he found a place to live for a bit. A place that didn’t ask too many questions about the odd single father and his very small child.

She was never afraid of him. Even when she began to talk more, she never seemed to miss her parents or the place she’d been found in. Never seemed to care about the claws or scales or horns or multiple eyes that her caregiver sometimes sported.

Abigor would never be able to reasonably explain why he’d decided to stay with Jenni. Why he chose to go to the supermarket instead of going to torture souls in hell.

She was small, and she genuinely seemed to like him. Which is rare, and he enjoys it a lot more than he’ll probably admit.

If Abigor ever had to meet up with his colleagues again, he isn’t likely to mention that he enjoyed the random hugs and the macaroni art she made when she went to preschool.

Preschool. He sends her to school! Not alone, of course. He slips into her shadow and watches over her, her ‘guardian angel’. The idea makes him chuckle. He watches her draw pictures of them; sometimes it’s her and a big, looming monster, sometimes it’s his more human form. She’s always so proud, as she shows her horrified teachers or Abigor himself. A child psychologist is called a few times by more flighty souls. If some people notice a strangely oppressive presence in the otherwise brightly coloured, toy filled rooms, they don’t say. They just see an odd little child who Abigor would kill for.

He dresses Jenni and looks after her and sometimes eats people who he thinks look at her wrong and then they have to move. But that’s okay. She’s safe, and she’s sleeping in a bed at the end of the day. Maybe not in the nicest apartments, but it isn’t a closet in a decrepit house.

Is he always the smartest and most responsible in this venture? Of course not. Sometimes he slips up, eats the wrong person and they have to leave, just in case people who know what they’re doing show up and banish him.
——
“You eaten recently?”

Jenni’s sitting on the couch, potato chips on her lap. She’s eleven, a quiet girl who likes reading, watching television and listening to music. Just an average, sweater wearing pre-teen. Who asks her demon caregiver if he’s eaten recently.
Abigor is currently napping in his chair. At home, he drops many of the more human aspects of his Earthly form, and is a horrifying combination of demon and man. Jenni has never seemed to mind though. He slits open one of his four current eyes lazily in response to the question, curious.

“Not in a while. Why?” He asked.

“There was a bear attack in the news. Wanted to see if it was actually a bear attack, and not you being messy.” Jenni said matter of factly.

“I’m not messy, cub.” The demon rumbled.

“Abi, You’re always covered in blood.” Jenni informed him. “I watched you pick fingers out of your teeth one night.”

“True.” The demon sighed. “You done your homework?”

The girl nodded. “Yeah. I’m done. You gonna eat tonight?”

All his eyes opened now. The demon regarded the human, claws tapping the arm of his chair. “You’re not normally interested in my feeding schedule, cub. What’s up?”

She shifted uncomfortably, setting her chips aside. Ah. It was serious then.

“Do you eat bad people, Abi?”

“Frequently.” The demon replied, not mentioning morality wasn’t normally a factor in dinner selection. “You have someone in mind?”

Sometimes, Abigor wonders about the logic and morality of this strange little creature.

“You want me to eat your classmate’s father?” Abigor asked.

Jenni nodded quite seriously. “He sucks and you get to eat. I think it’s a good plan.”

“Hm.” Said the demon. “That’s an idea, cub. I’ll have to think about it.”

He got up, and gently ruffled her hair as he passed to the kitchen. Like he’d seen human caregivers do. He had to mind the claws, make sure he didn’t scratch her. For all her peculiarities she was still a fragile human. Her skin wasn’t forged in hell pits.
——
The woman leans against Abigor’s human form, giggling delightedly as they walk up to the apartment together.

She’s handsy, pawing all over his chest and grasping at places that made him hungry. In more ways than one.

He fumbled for his keys, already hearing the television on the other side of his door.

Jenni’s still awake.

He opens the door, adulterous lover slobbering on his jacket, and hustles the woman inside. They have to pass through the living room to get to what is essentially his bedroom.

The sixteen year old lounging on the couch doesn’t even look up from whatever she’s watching on television. An action movie of some kind.

Abigor drags the woman past his ward, towards the bedroom. Before he closes the door, he hears Jenni’s quiet, “Have fun!”

He smiled, and shut the door.
——
Abigor wandered out of the bedroom the next morning to check on Jenni, still human-ish and mildly covered in blood.

Jenni was eating peanut butter and jelly on toast in the kitchen, ready to enjoy her Saturday off, like many human children. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the blood on his clothes and skin.

“Someone had a good night.” She chuckled.

“You were up later than I’d thought you’d be.” Abigor said. “I’m grateful Dinner didn’t ask questions.”

Jenni rolled her eyes. “Abi, she was drooling all over you, she didn’t care if I was around or anyone else for that matter. You were pretty quiet last night, though. Normally I’m worried about the neighbours but I heard only one scream.”

“Was more hungry than bored.” Abigor shrugged, opening the fridge and rummaging through it. “Drink some orange juice, it’s cold season.”

“I don’t get sick. I think you even scare microbes away, Abi.” The girl laughed.

The demon snorted, pulling out a raw beef liver and chowing on it aggressively.

“I might go out later. Roger asked me to join him and some other kids for a bonfire tonight.” Jenni said.

Abigor’s nostrils flared and he side eyed the cub. “Oh? Is that right?” He growled.

“Look Abi, I know you don’t like Roger, but he’s nice. And you can’t eat every boy who looks at me.”

“That sounds like a challenge, cub.” The demon drawled.

“It’s not.”

“Can I come with you-“

“Ew. Abigor, we might end up, you know…” She trailed off when he fixed unimpressed eyes on her, chewing his liver slowly.

“Please, keep giving me details. It’s making me more and more inclined to let you go out with this boy the more you speak.” He spat the word boy like he spat out teeth.

“You know I’ll be careful.” Jenni pleaded.

“Jenni, I have no doubts in my mind you will. It’s this human male I have a problem with.”

“Would you have a problem if he was a demon?”

“Yes. He’d probably be trying to eat you and I’d have to kill him and consume him.” Abigor said matter-of-factly.

She chewed thoughtfully on her toast crust.

“Why does you committing cannibalism surprise me more than the fact you eat people?”

The demon shrugged, morphing into his part-way form and skulking into the living room to check the news. One of these days he’d explain how demona eating other demons was more like humans eating other species of mammals. “I couldn’t tell you, cub. All I’ll say is this. You know the curfew, and if you’re not back by then I will come hunting. And if this Roger even breaths in a way I don’t like I will eat him like a fucking gummy bear.” He flopped on the couch, swinging his legs over the arm as he shuffled through channels for what he was looking for.
Jenni shrugged. “Fine.”

“Good.” The demon sat back to enjoy the feeling of full belly and human suffering while Jenni wandered off to her room. She was getting so big, he thought ruefully.

Another sentiment he’d never admit out loud.
Hours later, he hasn’t moved from the couch. He hears her approach and feels that small bit of pride and affection he always does when Jenni’s involved.

“I’m heading out. I’ll be back before curfew.” She says cheerfully. She seems genuinely excited, but it’s rare for her to actually have friends and humans are social creatures, so the demon understands.

Abigor rolls over, all three sets of currently manifested eyes narrowing. “Be careful, Jennifer.”

“I will.” The girl promises, leaning down and planting a quick peck on his rough forehead, just above his eyes. “Don’t sit and stew while I’m gone. I peeked into your room, there’s evidence all over.”

The demon grunted, biting back a smile. He listens to her head out, hears her lock the door behind her.

He rolls of the couch as soon as he hears her leave, loses even more human charactistics, and crawls to the bedroom to finish cleaning up his latest snack. Realistically, that’s all the woman had been. Some lonely, neglected wife who had been in the wrong bar at the wrong time. Right when Abigor was feeling peckish.

He’d be more sated with more humans; he’s not some useless fucking imp that could be filled by one mere, insignificant body.

He cleans up the blood and chunks of adulterer off the floor, walls and furniture, savouring them before wondering how he’ll spend the rest of the day. Jenni’s out, and he was barred from going which left him lonely and bored.

Another unmentionable sentiment.

He decided reading was in order. And then perhaps he’d go out and find a tourist to play with. Today was shaping up to be a much better day than expected.
——
Jenni comes home far earlier than previously expected. Abigor’s in the middle of literally peeling apart a man in his bedroom, who is gagged, bound and probably in shock.

The demon perks up when he hears the knock code to come undo the deadbolts, chains and locks on the door. He leaves his current project and goes to see what’s brought the cub home so early. He smells distress, which is not something he associates with his cub.

The final chain falls and Jenni bursts in, looking miserable. There’s tears. Abigor cannot remember the last time he saw her cry. She’s also sopping wet, her cloths dripping water on the floor.

He quickly re-secures the apartment and finds her on the couch, staring into empty space.
Abigor shifts into a softer shape, more human, and quickly joins the little one on the couch. He doesn’t touch her yet. He waits to see what’s wrong.

“People suck, Abigor.” She said softly.

Ah. So the worst had happened then.

“What happened, cub?” The demon asked.

She curled her knees up under her chin. “They just wanted to fuck with the new kid, that’s it.I think Roger got spooked when I almost drowned-“

“You almost what?”

“Drowned.” Jenni said quietly. “Lily drove me home after that.”

Abigor stood up and began pacing. “Those useless sacks of meat.” He snarled. “I knew it, I fucking knew it-“

“Yeah Abigor, you were right. Are you happy?” Jenni snapped miserably. The demon stopped abruptly and stared at his cub, surprised at her tone.

Hurt. She’s hurting. Your spawn is in pain.

Because of someone else.

He rubbed his temple, huffing softly. “No, Jennifer, I’m not happy. These little shits hurt you. Why would I be happy about that?”

“I dunno.” She said miserably.

He stepped closer, looking her over, listening for any tell tale sounds of lung damage from the water or anything else drowning related. He sighed, when he realised most of the damage was mild, and fear related. Nothing they couldn’t handle on their own.

“Let’s get you some dry clothes, cub. And then I’m gonna go on a trip.”

“Can I come with you?” Jenni asked.

Abigor cocked his head thoughtfully. “You want to go back?”

“They almost killed me.” Jenni said. “Even if they didn’t mean to. I, the weird kid doesn’t deserve to almost die because of some fucking jocks and their airhead girlfriends.”

“I’ll drive.” Abigor said, smiling at the look in his cubs eyes. “I just gotta deal with something first. Go get dressed and cleaned up, okay.”

She nodded, the fear replaced with a viciousness that the demon couldn’t help but feel proud of.
Tonight was going to be fun.
——
Roger and the Gang were still down by the lake. Drunk and seemingly unbothered by the fact that they’d almost killed a girl earlier. In their mind it was a harmless prank gone wrong, and Lily had dealt with it.

Lily had been pissed, and had gone home after telling Roger off, so that left Roger, and a couple of his buddies and their girlfriends drinking by a bonfire off the beaten path.

Jenni made her way down the root covered, uneven path to where the bonfire was, listening to the sound of laughter and feeling a little rage grow hotter and hotter in her chest. Also a little fear.

Jenni wasn’t used to fear. Which was unusual, and probably said something about her considering what and who she lived with. But she’d never been on the receiving end of death or torture, in her memory. Sure she’d been bullied, she was always the new, weird kid too comfortable with death and obsessed with the occult and taxidermy. Because at home, she had Abigor, who loved talking about that kinda stuff.
But she’d never felt that close to death before as she had in the lake water.

They didn't notice her right away.

Roger was the First. He looked up and seemed surprised. And unsure.

Jenni waved, despite the terror and betrayal she felt in her gut. When she saw him; the first guy she’d liked who’d actually given her affection back. And who’d helped hold her under the water while laughing at their ‘prank’. Had been the one to suggest the baptism in the first place.
He nudged the guy next to him, pointing at Jenni. They mumbled something until the whole group was staring at her.

She felt the weight on the back of her mind and in her shadow; it’s hard to explain, that your shadow has a weight but it does, especially when somethings hiding in it. It shifts like it’s comforting her, like it used to when she was small and it came with her to school. Watching over her.

“Jenni. What the fuck are you doing back here?” One of the girls asked. Lilly’s friend, though probably not for much longer after what happened tonight.

“My dad wanted to come talk to you.” Jenni said, he’d voice trembling a bit. “About, what you did.”

“That skinny faggot?” Laughed one of the jocks. He stood up, drunk and over confident. “He wants to talk? Alright, where is he?”

Jenni felt a large, clawed hand rest comfortingly on her shoulder.

“Anyone else around?” She whispered softly to the Hungry Predator currently looming behind her.

No one who will care. Was the response, a growling, rumbling voice that was more of a thought in her mind. It was weird. Having a thought that wasn’t her own, but she was used to it.

The jock started walking aggressively towards Jenni. And was stopped dead in his tracks when a low, inhuman growl emerged from the shadows.

The teenagers squealed, colour draining from their faces.

“What was that?” Demanded one of the girls, her voice wavering as she clung to her boyfriend. One of the boys picked up the hatchet they’d been using for firewood, looking wildly into the shadows behind Jenni.

Jenni smiled, feeling Abigor detach from her and creep out, slowly but surely stalking his prey.

“Such tender young things you’ve given me, cub.” Abigor’s inhuman, awful voice echoed. A twig snapped under one of his limbs.

“What the fuck!” Said Roger. He looked panicked, staring wildly first at Jenni and then at what was behind her. A vast, shadowy shape that seemed far bigger than any native animals.

“You shouldn’t have hurt her.” Abigor said. “This skinny faggot will have to teach you a lesson. Which one’s Roger, Jennifer?”

Jenni watched the blood drain from Roger’s face.

Abigor chuckled. “Never mind. I smell his fear.”
Jenni watched the shape emerge into the bonfire light, remembering all the times she’d seen it, or hints of it. She was used to the horrific, unearthly multitudes of limbs, eyes and spikes that made up Abigor’s true form, the oppressive, hungry, old aura never directed at her. She’s never been afraid of him.

But these humans are. The screams take on a pitch that Jenni has heard time after time, that panicked, pained animalistic horror that no actor can replicate.

Jenni goes further back, sitting near the line of trees around the ring to wait for Abigor to finish.
She sat down, to wait. Until the noises stopped, and she heard Abigor come over to join her on the ground. He’d shrunk down again, looked more like a person.

“They gone?” Jenni asked quietly.

“In a manner of speaking.” Abigor said gently. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and petting her hair gently. “They certainly won’t be doing anything to you again.”

She snuggled closer to him, aware he was probably covered in gore. He certainly stank like human insides.

“We’re gonna have to move again.” She said sadly.

“Do you want to stay?” Abigor asked. “What are they going to do, cub? This’ll be dismissed as some kind of tragedy, but I doubt they’ll ever think ‘oh, a knight of hell wearing a human suit did this’.”

“I don’t want to stay. The only nice people I met were Roger and Lily. And Roger almost killed me.” Jenni said.

She peered over at the ring of carnage, the blood trampled area and ruined bonfire. There wasn’t a lot of evidence left behind that the bloody mud on the ground had once been teenagers. Abigor was a very thorough glutton.

“We should go. Before someone comes along.” The demon said. “Wanna go home, wrap up in a warm blanket and eat junk food?”

Jenni nodded, smiling despite the lingering pain and adrenaline from earlier. She held on to Abigor all the way back to the car, leaving the embers of the fire to burn out in the mud.
——
Needless to say, Abigor was never going to let his cub be defenseless again.
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